Planning Science Facility Collaboration Spaces

Contemporary science facilities increasingly integrate formal and informal interaction and collaboration areas into their Space Program, acknowledging the value of these historically “found” spaces. What are the most productive types of these spaces, and what are the metrics for measuring productivity? What is the character of these spaces as compared to more formalized learning spaces, and how big should they be/how many people should they accommodate? What are the most lively, programmatic adjacencies, and what technological infrastructures are the most useful?

This presentation will offer a variety of new, renovated and expanded Science Buildings representing completed projects, projects in design and in construction. These projects will represent small liberal arts colleges as well as large state-owned universities. The presentation will explore the variety of ways academic institutions have planned their science facilities to respond to the growing trend for increased interaction and collaboration spaces, and how they compare to older science facilities in terms of the character, types and the amount of space.

Interaction and collaboration spaces have been identified as being important areas to be included in the programming, planning and design of science facilities. However, very little data exists that support the premise that these types of spaces are used and serve their purpose. Stantec completed post occupancy reviews on recently completed science projects to provide the data needed to confirm their usefulness and to refine the programming, planning and design of these spaces for future projects. The information gathered included objective data from personal observations confirming when and how these spaces were used. In addition, students provided responses to surveys sent to gather subjective information. This presentation summarizes the objective and subjective information gathered for six recently completed science projects.

Attendees will:

• Develop an understanding of the types, sizes, locations and attributes of collaboration spaces in a variety of science and engineering facilities.

• Develop an understanding of the challenges associated with programming, planning and designing collaboration spaces for state and private academic institutions.

• Develop an understanding of the uses and benefits collaboration spaces provide.

• Develop an understanding of how and why other academic institutions have allocated area for collaboration spaces.

Don't Miss Out!

Disable Cookies per browser:

Note: If you are using a browser that is not listed here, please do a quick internet search on how to block cookies and tracking for your specific browser.

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best user experience. If you agree to accept these cookies, confirm by clicking the "Ok, I Agree" button. For instructions on how to block cookies from this site, please click the "Give Me More Info" button.